Richard Klausner

Klausner was born in 1950 or 1951.[1] His father was a chemist, and Klausner would visit his father's laboratory as a child. He began studying physics at Yale University, but changed his focus to biology, with the plan of becoming a doctor in a rural area.[1] Klausner received his MD from Duke Medical School in 1976.[2]

In 1979, Klausner joined the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as a postdoctoral fellow. At age 30, Klausner was appointed to the chief of the cell biology and metabolism branch of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.[1]

In 1992, he directed the review of the NIH's intramural research programs, in which he recommended sweeping changes.[1] He served as the director of the National Cancer Institute from 1995 to 2001, where he managed a staff of 5,000 employees and a budget of $4.5 billion.[3] In total, he spent more than 20 years at the NIH.[4]

He left the NCI to become the founding director of the Case Institute of Health, Science and Technology of the Case Foundation.[4][5]

He was the managing partner of the biotech venture capital firm, the Column Group.[6] From 2002 to 2005, he was the executive director of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.[3][7]

He was a member of the Searle Scholars advisory board.[8] He was a scientific advisor at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.[9] He has been an Advisor to the Presidents of the Academies for counter-terrorism and a liaison to the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy,[6] and was the chief strategy advisor for USAID.[10]

Klausner co-founded Juno Therapeutics in 2013, GRAIL in 2015.[11][12] and MindStrong Health in 2014. He was the chief medical officer of Illumina from 2013 to 2016.[13]

He was president of the American Society for Clinical Investigation from 1995 to 1996.[12]

Klausner has two sons and twin daughters.[1]

• 1986 Elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI)[15]
• 1993 Elected to the National Academy of Sciences[16]
• 1995 Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences[12]
• 1997 Dickson Prize in Medicine, University of Pittsburgh[12]
• 1998 Raymond Bourgine Award for Excellence in Cancer Research and Gold Medal of Paris[12]
• 1999 ASCI Stanley J. Korsmeyer Award[15]
• 2000 Medal of Honour, International Agency for Research on Cancer[11]
• 2018 Elected fellow of the American Association for Cancer Research[12]

• NCI in the Post-Klausner Era
• Appearances on C-SPAN